


The Obon Light Made it Undeniable

by Chezmeralda



Series: With a Step Forward, I'm Closer to Reaching You - Companion Pieces [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Reflection, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 02:32:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2332061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chezmeralda/pseuds/Chezmeralda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei wanted to be the good friend and deny what he saw before him for his friend's sake, but he couldn't deny real beauty when he saw it. Especially if it was embraced in the warm Obon light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Obon Light Made it Undeniable

**Author's Note:**

> This follows Rei's perspective in the events of Obon in chapter 6 of my MakoHaru fic. Enjoy.

Rei truly believed he was an appreciator of great beauty.

He knew he certainly had the eye for it, with proper colour coordination, as well as a finer understanding of symmetry and the beauty of well calculated numbers and evenly laid out lines.

Rei also believed he was a good friend, or that he at least attempted to be.

His belief sprung from his admiration for Haru, as well as his respect towards Rin. It came from his companionship that hovered on a line that he was unable to name or pinpoint with Nagisa, and it came from an odd sense of adoration with Makoto.

Rei felt himself being torn between two parts of himself as he stood there with Rin and Nagisa, as they watched the beautiful young lady before them bow and get introduced by Makoto.

"Guys," Makoto said gently, placing his hand on the girl's shoulder and brought her up to face them. Rei had to curse at himself for being able to do nothing but stare blankly at her mesmerizing grey eyes. Eyes grey like new rain. "This is my girlfriend, Shiratori Hakune." He laced their fingers together and looked down to smile gently at her, as she looked up and returned the gaze, eyes crinkling at the the corners.

"Just Haku is fine," she said, and Rei noted the comforting tone in her voice, a gentle calm that came with rain. _Haku_ , he thought to himself, finding momentary irony in her name. "Makoto's told me so much about you all, so I'm really excited to meet you."

Rei moved to step forward to offer his hand to shake, but he felt a light tug on the back of his shirt that stopped him. He didn't have to look down next to him to know that it was Nagisa. He didn't have to look down to know that Nagisa probably looked utterly horrified at what meeting Makoto's girlfriend implied.

At what Haru not returning implied.

"Oh? Has he?" Rin asked, cutting the atmosphere that Rei was sure he could feel building up. "Sorry if we're not jumping up and down to interrogate you, but we haven't heard a peep from Makoto about him being in a relationship, so this is a bit shocking."

Rei managed to find his voice under Haku's steady gazed. "Yes, we apologize for not holding more enthusiasm," he said, sounding rightfully embarrassed. Haku laughed gently at him, waving it off.

"It's all right, Makoto told me he wanted to introduce me in person. He thought it would be better that way, since it's sort of big news?" she said, looking up at Makoto for confirmation, as he smiled down at her.

"Yeah, I didn't want to just tell you guys over the phone," came his timid reply. 

"How long?" Rei heard a quiet, almost terrified voice next to him, and he looked down to see Nagisa look up at Makoto with wide eyes. "How long have you been... dating?"

Makoto hummed in thought, and Rei noted that Haku had arced an eyebrow at him, as if expectant of his answer. Makoto looked down at Haku, looking amused at her expression. "Am I in trouble if I get it wrong?" he asked, quiet laughter filling his words.

"Is that what you expect of me?" she jokingly sounded offended. "Makoto, I'm hurt that you'd think of me so petty."

Rei watched as Makoto laughed, loudly and unhindered, as he pulled Haku into a playful hug. He'd never seen Makoto like this, so freely showy in his affection, so easy in his demeanor with her. "We've been dating for about four months now? It started a little after I joined her cooking club," came his reply over Haku's light laughter.

Rin was standing next to Rei and he caught his eye. Haru had yet to return from the top of the stairs. "Oh, you started the cooking club?" Rin asked as he smiled at the couple's playfulness, though his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Yes, I did," she admitted as she untangled herself from Makoto's arms, taking his hand back in hers. "I know Chiaki from way back when we were kids, so he's the one who introduced him to me."

Rei watched Makoto roll his eyes. "I think Chiaki-senpai just wanted to embarrass me," he mumbled. "I was an abysmal cook, after all."

Haku shrugged at him as they began to walk along the stalls of the festival. "It wasn't something that I couldn't teach you out of," she replied. "Although I was bothered a lot by Chiaki, too. He did have to eat your cooking for a while."

Makoto let out a laughing groan as he rubbed his forehead. "Don't," he muttered. "I don't need to remember how much Chiaki tried to stomach my cooking at first." Haku chuckled at him.

Rin walked up to them and grabbed both of their shoulders in an amicable gesture as he moved them forward. "You can tell us all about what you first thought of Makoto. Faults and all," he quipped. 

"Rin," Makoto sounded stern, as if warning against the topic. Rin looked up at him, as if daring him to defy the line of conversation.

Haku was sharp, Rei thought, as she picked up on it almost immediately. "I'd love to tell you everything you want to know, Rin-san," she said as she smiled brightly at him, causing a groan to erupt from Makoto's throat. "Just ask and I'll tell you everything."

Rin held back a laugh. "I think we'll get along really well, Hakune," he replied as he pushed them to a takoyaki stall.

Rei began to follow but he was pulled back by a firm grip still on his shirt. "Haru-chan..." he heard, and Rei's head whipped around to see Haru running down the stairs, hand covering his mouth, as if stifling sound from leaving his lips.

"Haruka-senpai!" Rei called, but Haru made no move to stop running as he continued in the direction of his house. He felt Nagisa let go of his shirt, as if to chase after him, but Rei stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"Let go, Rei-chan!" he cried as he tugged on Rei's hold on his wrist.

"Where do you think you're going, Nagisa-kun?" he asked quietly, softly, worried that the others would hear even though they were a distance away.

"I'm going after Haru-chan!" he yelled, pulling away, but Rei wasn't budging.

"And just what makes you think he wants to see us right now?" he asked, still quiet, still soft.

"Why are you so calm about this!" Nagisa looked to be on the verge of tears. "Haru-chan's hurting! He's upset! He was _crying_ , Rei-chan!"

"Don't you think I want to go after him as well?" he replied lowly, pulling Nagisa in so they stood close to each other, never letting go of his wrist. "I want to run after him just as much as you do. I want to ask to see if he's okay, if he needs anything, _what happened_ up there between him and Makoto-senpai," he continued, impassioned. "But we can't, we _can't_ , Nagisa-kun. Because I think Makoto-senpai would know, and that would hurt him just as much as it's hurting Haruka-senpai."

"Rei-chan," Nagisa whined quietly. Rei sighed as he let go of his wrist, knowing that Nagisa wouldn't run away anymore, because he knew he was right.

"Besides... I really do think that Haruka-senpai needs to recover from the shock on his own," Rei said, looking in the direction that Haru ran. He walked towards Rin, Makoto, and Haku, knowing that Nagisa was following behind him.

"I don't want to like her," Nagisa muttered, and Rei turned around to look at him. He waited for him to continue. "I don't want to know that she's good to Mako-chan. I _don't want to know_ that she cares about him. I can't do that to Haru-chan, Rei-chan! I can't do it!"

Rei felt a small sadness as he looked at Nagisa, both impressed and amazed by his extent of loyalty. He knew how much he respected Makoto and Haru as older brothers, so this was something he had been expecting. What he hadn't been expecting was the intensity of it.

He put his hands on Nagisa's shoulders. "We have to be there for Makoto-senpai, too," he answered quietly, causing Nagisa to look up at him. "He waited to introduce us to her in person, it would be incredibly rude of us to abandon him." He felt Nagisa nod as he began to walk towards the group.

\---

"Makoto, you managed to cause a small fire in the kitchen facility?" Rin looked at him from across the table, impressed with his skill, or lack thereof.

Makoto sighed as he swallowed his takoyaki. "A _small_ fire. It was in the frying pan, so it was controlled," he whined.

Haku clicked her tongue from next to him. "Makoto," she began, and Rei watched Makoto begin to shrivel away from her, embarrassed and amused at the whole thing. "An oil based fire is _not controlled_. You can't put it out with water, so we could have done a lot of damage to the kitchen."

"But you _knew_ how to put it out, so it was controlled," he countered as he took a bite of her taiyaki. "So it was fine. Everything was fine!"

Haku looked at him with wry amusement before shaking her head. "If I wasn't there, it would have gotten bad very fast," was all she said to them. Rin chuckled at the story. Rei looked over at Nagisa, who also had been amused and interested, although it looked like he was fighting not to be. 

"Mako-chan seems really enthusiastic about learning how to cook," Nagisa managed to say. Haku smiled lightly at him, and Rei could tell he was trying really, _really_ hard not to like her.

"I had a good teacher," he said. "Haku has a way of attracting people to her, I guess I just happened to be one of them."

"I could say the same for you," Rei was surprised by Haku's words. "You're naturally open, Makoto. People are drawn to you because of that." She had complimented him so easily. Rei could see that Makoto was hiding a blush, embarrassed.

"That's not true," he mumbled. That earned him a smack on the arm, and he flinched out of reflex. 

Haku looked at them as she pointed at Makoto, who tried to ignore it. "Did you have to deal with this?" she asked them, shaking her head gently.

"Deal with what?" Rin asked. Rei and Nagisa both stared at her, curious at what she meant.

"Deal with him denying a compliment," she said as she looked at Makoto, scolding him with her gaze. He sipped his drink as he ducked his head down. "He needs to be a bit more confident in himself. You do know that it was your openness that caused Chiaki to like you so much. It's how we got so close so fast."

Makoto shook his head. "That's because you and Chiaki are both good people," he replied.

" _No_ , Makoto," she said sternly, causing his ears to go red. "It might be part of the reason, but we wouldn't have tried to get along with you if we didn't like our first impression of you. Allow yourself the compliments that are going to come, because they are. You deserve them."

Rei understood where Makoto was coming from when he said that Haku attracted people to her. It wasn't her outward beauty that kept people around her. That was shallow and false, and she seemed to be unaware of her physical attractiveness. It was her ability to break down people's walls and see them clearly and without obstacle. Much like how rain washed away dirt that builds up after a drought.

"You really seem to understand Makoto-senpai, Haku-san," Rei said kindly, despite himself. "I hope you continue to look on Makoto-senpai kindly in the future."

Haku blinked at his formal request, before laughing and reaching over to gently muss up his hair. "Of course, Rei-kun. I'd be happy to," she replied with a smile on her face. 

Despite himself, he could admit that he liked her. He felt torn about that fact.

\---

"Well, we'd better go and spend time with my family," Makoto said as they stood on the road. "You going to stay here?"

"Yeah, we're going to hang around for a bit before going home," Rin replied. "It was nice meeting you, Hakune. I had fun."

"Me too, I'm glad I got to meet all of you," she replied. She paused and then continued. "Well, almost all of you."

Rei felt himself flinch at her words, and he could tell everyone else had as well. "What are you talking about, Haku?" Makoto asked, though it was obvious he was flustered.

"Your friend, Haruka," was her reply. "The one you grew up with. Where was he? I didn't want to say anything if there was something going on, but I thought it was odd. You did say he was your best friend."

Rei felt an immediate wave of panic wash over him, and he felt the thought in the back of his mind that let him know that the others felt the same. Haku was very perceptive, it seemed, and Rei could practically feel Rin fishing for an excuse.

"He's sick," came Makoto's quick reply. "He said to go on without him."

Rei looked at Haku carefully, and he could tell that she didn't believe him in the slightest. The way her eyes bore into Makoto's face said it all. "Is he?" she asked, ready to drop the subject at the present time. "I guess that's just too bad, then. Let him know that I'd like to meet him next time I'm in town with Makoto, okay? I had fun tonight."

"We had fun, too, Haku-chan," Nagisa replied. She smiled at him.

They watched the pair walk to Makoto's house, waving at them the entire time. Rin sighed.

"She knew," was all he said. A pause came over them before he continued. "She knew something was up."

"She's an incredible person," Rei admitted, felt sad to admit, even if it was a good thing. "She really cares and pays attention to those around her."

"They love each other," the two boys turned their heads to look at Nagisa, who sounded defeated with the words. "They really care about each other. They love each other a lot, you guys. After _all_ the encouragement we gave Haru-ch-"

"Stop, Nagisa," Rin cut in, as they made their way to Haru's house. "Don't beat yourself up over what we didn't know. It's not like we could have-"

"I didn't want to like her!" he wailed. "I tried so hard to find something wrong with her, Rin-chan! Anything. But she's _so good_ to him. Not just as a lover, _as a friend_. She knows what to call him out on and she knows what he needs from her."

"She treated us with respect and incredible care," Rei added.

"And she knew something was up as soon as she mentioned Haru," Rin finalized. The three stood in silence at Haru's back door, looking at it, almost afraid to go in.

"Why couldn't we have met her some other way?" Nagisa whined. "We could have been better friends if we met her some other way. I want to hate her. I want to _hate_ her for Haru-chan. But... but I can't! Not when she's so nice. Not when she makes Mako-chan so happy."

"Not when she takes care of him so well," Rin added. Rei could feel the thought that passed over all of them.

_Not when she takes care of him better than we had._

The three of them stared at the door, still afraid to go in. Rin sighed and was the first to step forward. Whether they liked it or not, they had to be happy for Makoto.

Even if it meant not being happy for Haru.

**Author's Note:**

> Before any of you get butt hurt at me, I'm not implying that Makoto's friends didn't care for him. What I'm trying to imply is that Rin, Rei, and Nagisa notice a subtle way that Haku cares for Makoto, since he's one to hide his needs from others, she's managed to side step that and read him like a book. It's addressing that they have insecurities as well, as his friends, for not being more observant of him the way he is of them. That's what I'm trying to get at.
> 
> But yeah, here's Makoto's girlfriend. We get introduced to her before she's introduced in the main fic. I was a little worried how it would turn out. I think it'll be fine. The companion pieces are there for outer insight anyway. It won't ruin the big parts of the plot that I've still got in the story.


End file.
